March 23rd 2012

The spiral staircase is now safely protected from the elements by this very elegant lean-to. Hopefully the winds will not destroy it.  (There have been some wild wind storms here over the winter).


And... Mike and I built and installed the stairs up to the back door, which is also the main entrance. They are definitely "skookum".

Back on Cortes

This is the spiral staircase framework sitting out in front of the house because we are still quite a long way from being ready to install it. The section closest to the camera is part of the railing around the hole in the floor on the second floor. Behind is the main staircase structure. Everyone seems to agree it will all be beautiful once installed. The stair treads will be wood.

Fruit trees! Our local orchardist Bill has planted two apple trees, two plum trees and two pear trees. In a few years we should be enjoying some good fruit.





The engineered hardwood flooring was also delivered and is being stored in the loft above the storage room in the workshop.

Mid winter progress

A quick visit to Cortes between Christmas and New Year revealed some nice new progress. Mike has built the steps off the front deck which are very comfortable both for walk/climbing and sitting on. The area in front of them will be a paved patio eventually.

And at the back we now have a nice concrete pad for the steps up to the back door. The treads and stringers will be of heavy lumber and Mike is working on them at present.

The weather was very mild and we were very cosy for the two nights we spent in the trailer.

Now we are back in the city where I hope to make a start on the spiral staircase...

Last day for 2011 - Nov 5th

It's my last day here on Cortes for this year and I took these shots to remind me of what Mike and I have built and of course, how much remains to be done.

Yesterday we installed the last of the siding and painted the corner trim on the upper back side (pic #2). So now we are beginning to see what the final colour scheme will look like.
The third pic shows the west side, the living room in the foreground and the bedroom behind with its little deck.

After I leave here, Mike will carry on with some concrete work and finishing trim.
And I'll be back here next April to start on the interior...

November 2nd

It's early November and yes, I'm still here on Cortes Island at May's Garden. But not for long... I will be leaving this weekend to head back to Vancouver for the winter.
Mike and I have been plugging away in the wind and rain, pushing to get the siding finished. At this point we are about one day away. Today we did the wall of the dining room, to the right of the french doors. Yesterday we finished up around the back door and did the final wall upstairs. (The plywood you can see on the lower roof is just there for safety and will be removed before the weekend.)
So it's down to the short strokes... for this year anyway. It feels great to have got to this stage and I can walk away knowing that, as Ulysses said, "Tho' much has been accomplished, much remains." 
(Actually he said, "Tho much is taken, much remains." in Tennyson's poem. But hey, this is Cortes, who cares;)

Doors!

Doors! After windows, getting the exterior doors installed is a major milestone on the road to that magical state called "lock up". Last Friday I drove down to Victoria to pick up our doors from the company there that has been making them. When I got there they told me they'd had a problem and the doors would not be ready until Tuesday afternoon.  Sooo... I decided to stay with my friends Dan and Naoko that night and head over to Vancouver for a couple of days on Saturday. It all worked out fine and yesterday I picked up the doors around 5pm, drove to Campbell River (3.5 hrs) and caught a late ferry to Quadra Island. I knew it was too late to get to ferry to Cortes but decided to stay at the Heriot Bay Inn and catch the first ferry in the morning. All went according to plan and I arrived home at May's Garden mid morning. Mike showed up soon after and together we installed three of the four door, saving the big french doors for tomorrow.
In the pictures you can see the upstairs deck door, the cute little bedroom door, and the main entry door -- yes we still need to build  deck for the main entry.

Still Siding - 2

With day after day of clear sunny skies the siding work is proceeding at a good pace. Not without a few hiccups though as we resolve the challenges of getting the corners to line up etc.
The two top pix are looking at the living room and bedroom walls on the ground floor and the west wall of the upstairs. The gable ends will remain with their tyvek covers until next spring when we'll finish them with cedar shingles.
At this point we have one more wall to do upstairs and one and a bit downstairs. So one more good day will see it finished!
Meanwhile, I had Robbie come back and dig a ditch for the generator electric feed to the house. The generator will be located at the workshop where we will have the freezer. The feed to the house is mainly for the fridge and for lighting etc.
Tomorrow, I'm heading for Victoria to pick up the exterior doors. There's rain in the forecast so it looks like a good time to go....
I feel a need to add a note here about what a joy it has been working here for the past week or so. The fall colours are spectacular and the sun has been warm enough during the day to work in just a T shirt.  I feel blessed!